Confirmed-Key 9/11 Hijacker's cousin arrested as Spy for Israel

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/world/middleeast/19lebanon.html?_r=4&hp

February 19, 2009
Lebanese in Shock Over Arrest of an Accused Spy
By ROBERT F. WORTH
MARAJ, Lebanon — For 25 years, Ali al-Jarrah managed to live on both sides of the bitterest divide running through this region. To friends and neighbors, he was an earnest supporter of the Palestinian cause, an affable, white-haired family man who worked as an administrator at a nearby school.

To Israel, he appears to have been a valued spy, sending reports and taking clandestine photographs of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah since 1983.

Now he sits in a Lebanese prison cell, accused by the authorities of betraying his country to an enemy state. Months after his arrest, his friends and former colleagues are still in shock over the extent of his deceptions: the carefully disguised trips abroad, the unexplained cash, the secret second wife.

Lebanese investigators say he has confessed to a career of espionage spectacular in its scope and longevity, a real-life John le Carré novel. Many intelligence agents are said to operate in the civil chaos of Lebanon, but Mr. Jarrah’s arrest has shed a rare light onto a world of spying and subversion that usually persists in secret.

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Mr. Jarrah’s first wife maintains that he was tortured, and is innocent; requests to interview him were denied.

From his home in this Bekaa Valley village, Mr. Jarrah, 50, traveled often to Syria and to south Lebanon, where he photographed roads and convoys that might have been used to transport weapons to Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, investigators say. He spoke with his handlers by satellite phone, receiving “dead drops” of money, cameras and listening devices. Occasionally, on the pretext of a business trip, he traveled to Belgium and Italy, received an Israeli passport, and flew to Israel, where he was debriefed at length, investigators say.

At the start of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli officials called Mr. Jarrah to reassure him that his village would be spared and that he should stay at home, investigators said.

He was finally arrested last July by Hezbollah, which now has perhaps the most powerful intelligence apparatus in this country. It handed him to the Lebanese military — along with his brother Yusuf, who is accused of helping him spy — and he awaits trial by a military court.

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Several current and former military officials agreed to provide details about his case on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it before the trial began. Their accounts tallied with details provided by Mr. Jarrah’s relatives and former colleagues.

It is not the family’s first brush with notoriety. One of Mr. Jarrah’s cousins, Ziad al-Jarrah, was among the 19 hijackers who carried out the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, though the men were 20 years apart in age and do not appear to have known each other well.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, declined to discuss Mr. Jarrah’s situation, saying, “It is not our practice to publicly talk about any such allegations in this case or in any case.”

Villagers here seemed incredulous that a man they knew all their lives could have taken money to spy for a country that they regard with unmixed hatred and disgust.

Many maintained his innocence. But Raja Mosleh, the Palestinian doctor who was his partner for years in a school and health clinic near here, did not.

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“I never suspected him before,” Dr. Mosleh said. “But now, after linking all the incidents together, I feel he’s 100 percent guilty.”

“He used to talk about the Palestinian cause all the time, how he supported the cause, he supported the people, he liked everybody — this son of a dog,” Dr. Mosleh added, his voice thick with contempt.

Mr. Jarrah would often borrow money to buy cigarettes, apparently posing as a man of limited means. Investigators say he received more than $300,000 for his work from Israel.

Only recently did he begin to spend in ways that raised questions. About six years ago, neighbors said, he built a three-story villa with a terra-cotta roof that is by far the grandest house in this modest village of low concrete dwellings. Outside is a small roofed archway and a heavy iron gate, and on a recent day a German shepherd stood guard.

Dr. Mosleh asked him where he got the money, and Mr. Jarrah said he got help from a daughter living in Brazil. It is a natural excuse in Lebanon, where a large portion of the population receives remittances from relatives abroad.

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Mr. Jarrah also had a secret second wife, according to investigators and his former colleagues. Unlike his first wife, Maryam Shmouri al-Jarrah, who lived in relative grandeur with their five children in Maraj, the second wife lived in a cheap apartment in the town of Masnaa, near the Syrian border. This apparently allowed Mr. Jarrah to travel near the border in the unremarkable guise of a local working-class man.

Mr. Jarrah has said he was recruited in 1983 — a year after Israel began a major invasion of Lebanon — by Israeli officers who had imprisoned him, according to investigators. He was offered regular payments in exchange for information about Palestinian militants and Syrian troop movements, they said.

After Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, thousands of Lebanese from the occupied zone in the south were tried and sentenced — mostly to light prison terms — for collaborating with Israel.

Far from the border, a different class of collaborators, rooted in their communities, persisted. A few have been caught and sentenced.

Mr. Jarrah’s motives remain a mystery. He said he tried to stop, but the Israelis would not let him, investigators said.

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It all came to an end last summer. He went on a trip to Syria in July, and when he returned he said he had been briefly detained by the Syrian police, his first wife said. He seemed very uneasy, not his usual self, she said.

He left the house that night, saying he was going to Beirut, and never returned, Mrs. Jarrah said. Only three months later did she get a call from the Lebanese Army saying it had taken custody of him.

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Jarrah said, she was allowed to see him. He looked terrible, exhausted, she said.

Lebanese security forces released a photograph of Mr. Jarrah, taken before his arrest. In it, he appears against a blue and white backdrop, dressed in a formal dark shirt, wearing an enigmatic smile.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, and Ethan Bronner from Jerusalem."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/world/middleeast/19lebanon.html?_r=4&hp=&pagewanted=print

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Ziad Jarrah being told how to be a jihadi.....

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And of course the CIA knew about Jarrah well before 9/11......


(CNN) -- One of the September 11 hijackers was stopped and questioned in the United Arab Emirates in January 2001 at the request of the CIA, nearly nine months before the attacks, sources in the government of the UAE, and other Middle Eastern and European sources told CNN.

The CIA suspected Ziad Jarrah had been in Afghanistan and wanted him questioned because of "his suspected involvement in terrorist activities," UAE sources said.

A CIA spokesman vigorously denied that the CIA knew anything about Jarrah before September 11 or had anything do with his questioning in Dubai.

U.S. and UAE officials say Jarrah was stopped at the airport in Dubai on January 30, 2001, after the CIA notified UAE officials that he would be arriving from Pakistan on his way back to Europe. UAE sources say the CIA wanted to know where he had been in Afghanistan and how long he had been there.

A senior UAE source said U.S. officials were informed of the results of the interrogation while Jarrah was still at the airport.

Both U.S. and UAE officials acknowledge the relationship between the two country's intelligence services is extremely close.

Told of the CIA's denial, UAE government officials repeated to CNN that Jarrah was questioned at the request of the United States. Senior UAE sources said they had no reason to question him for their own purposes because he was in transit.

UAE and European intelligence sources told CNN that the questioning of Jarrah fits a pattern of a CIA operation begun in 1999 to track suspected al Qaeda operatives who were traveling through the United Arab Emirates. These sources told CNN that UAE officials were often told in advance by U.S. officials which persons were coming through the country and whom they wanted questioned.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/september_11_hijacker_questioned_in_january_2001.htm

Paul Watson does a great job putting this together....
Cousin Of Alleged 9/11 Hijacker Exposed As Israeli Spy
http://www.prisonplanet.com/cousin-of-alleged-911-hijacker-exposed-as-israeli-spy.html

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Born in Lebanon in 1962, Assem Omar Jarra is conflictingly reported as either the great-uncle or distant cousin of Ziad Jarrah, the 9/11 hijacker. His work permit was found in the charred remains of the Flight 93 along with Ziad's burnt passport.

He disappeared in July 2001, after claiming that he was returning to Lebanon - and resurfaced after the attacks, claiming that he was going to sue Der Spiegel for libel, for their report that he had worked with Intelligence agencies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assem_Omar_Jarrah

A constant figure in Jarrah's life in Germany was his great-uncle, Assem Omar Jarrah. According to the German magazine, Der Spiegel, Assem Jarrah worked for a long time as an informer for the Stasi, the East German secret service, while maintaining connections to Nidal's terror group.

According to Stasi files described by Der Spiegel last November, a note on the back of Assem Jarrah's file specified he had contacts with people in "Operation Trader"--Stasi code for the Abu Nidal group, which staged several operations in Germany and recruited agents among Arab students.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002160

"I gave my testimony in this regard and informed the company that I had lent my German work permit to Ziad well before the Sept. 11 attacks," Assem said.

"It was during my second trip that the FBI informed me that my work permit was found on the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania," he said. That plane was destined for Washington to hit either the White House or Capitol Hill.
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/Newsdesk.nsf/Lebanon/06802B1FBB8A8F3442256AFC003F2848?OpenDocument

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Yusuf Jarrah also was working with the mossad and Jarrahs cousins helped mossad kill Imad Mughniyah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imad_Mughniyah#Assassination

According to this translated article..
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.faststart.ru/lenta.php%3Faction%3Dmore%26ncid%3D29%26artid%3D52412%26print%3D1&ei=3m2eSbChOsyatweky7yQDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Yusuf%2Bjarrah%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENUS256

Lebanon, accused the Israeli spy in the assassination Mugnie

The Lebanese authorities suggest that one of the suspects detained on 31 October of spying for Israel is involved in the killing of "master terrorist" Hezbollah Imad Mugnie.  That was reported by The Jerusalem Post, referring to Lebanese SMI.Po version of the investigation, Lebanese Ali Jarrah (Ali Jarrah) conducted surveillance of the leaders of Hezbollah with the help of technical means, which he gave the Israeli intelligence service "Mossad".  Cooperation continued with the 80-ies. There is information that Jarrah had already confessed to the crime.  Second alleged spy, Dzharraha Yusuf (Yusuf Jarrah), suspected of helping Ali, who is his brother.  According to some reports, the brothers in any way connected with the suicide bomber Dzharrahom Ziad (Ziad Jarrah), which was behind a steering wheel of the aircraft, seized by the United States on 11 September 2001.  Imad Mugnie responsible for Hezbollah for the organization of terrorist attacks, died On February 12, 2008 when a car bomb in Damascus. Although Israel denied any involvement in the killing of terrorists, Hezbollah blames for the deaths of confidence Mugnie the Israeli secret service.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.faststart.ru/lenta.php%3Faction%3Dmore%26ncid%3D29%26artid%3D52412%26print%3D1&ei=3m2eSbChOsyatweky7yQDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Yusuf%2Bjarrah%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENUS256

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THE UNCLE OF DRIVERS OF 11 SEPTEMBER WORKED FOR Mossad

 The international magazine Crescent International (December 2008), and other Arab newspapers have published articles on exciting Ziad al-Jarrah, accused by the FBI to have been responsible and the pilot diverted the plane United Airlines Flight 93, died in the crash of the aircraft.

 The two uncles of al-Jarrah, Ali and Youssef al-Jarrah (and other network members) were arrested by the Lebanese army to the Syrian border....National Association for Medical Services and Vocational Training, Operating under the umbrella of an NGO, the National Association for Medical Services and Vocational Training, they were carrying a large listening material ultra-modern and sophisticated espionage ... they had been provided by the Mossad, services Israeli.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://libertesinternets.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/loncle-dun-des-pilotes-du-11-septembre-travaillait-pour-le-mossad/&ei=h14ASqO9G5Kktweg-OGNBw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Youssef%2Bal-Jarrah%2522%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20

The age differences would also seem to indicate it more likely they were uncles to Ziad.

"though the men were 20 years apart in age and do not appear to have known each other well."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/world/middleeast/19lebanon.html

Ali al-Jarrah (c. 1958 –) is a Lebanese man accused of spying for Israel for 25 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_al-Jarrah

That would make him 43 years old in 2001. Why is this relevant?
Check out these memos from the recently released 9/11 commission..

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Mr. Hortman acknowledged that he recalled Ziad Jarrah as an individual who
attempted to rent a Piper Cherokee aircraft from his, company during the first week of June 2001. Jarrah was accompanied by a mid-eastem male, who Jarrah introduced as his "uncle."

Jarrah further told Mr. Hortman that he, that is Jarrah, was interested in flying with his uncle along the "Hudson River Conidor."

During this discussion, which occurred outside of the Hortman Aviation offices, Jarrah's "uncle" stood by, listening to the conversation but not speaking.

Mr. Hortman described the uncle as a mid-eastern male of average height who was in his mid to late 40s.
http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00548.pdf

A comprehensive interview by the FBI is conducted of the employee at the
Payless Car Rental agency at the Las Vegas International Airport, who handled the rental with Jarrah. This interview occurred on 10/11/2001. The employee reports that Jarrah rented a Daewoo from Payless at 3:13 pm, on 06/07/2001. Jarrah did not have a credit card, only a debt card, and was required to make a cash deposit of $280.00, and leave his return airline ticket as collateral for the rental. The employee remembers this transaction, because he was a new employee and this was the first transaction of this type that the employee conducted. The employee stated that Jarrah was accompanied by a mid-eastern male, who is otherwise unidentified. Jarrah and the unidentified male accompany the employee to the rental lot where both Jarrah and the unidentified male examine the Daewoo for any damage. The employee then observes Jarrah and the unidentified male enter the Daewoo and leave the lot together. The two FBI agents who conducted the interview <<redacted>> and <<redacted>>, found the witness to be credible. On 10/12/2001 they ask Las Vegas Police Detective Maurice Rodriguez to draw a sketch of the unknown mid-eastern male, based on the Payless employee's description.

A copy of the sketch was then forwarded to Philadelphia, PA to be shown to
personnel at the Hortman Aviation flight school. Herbert Hortman, the owner of
Hortman Aviation stated that the sketch "resembled" the unknown mid-eastern male that accompanied Jarrah at the Philadelphia flight school.

During the transaction at Payless, Jarrah asks for direction to the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino on South Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) from the Payless employee. While giving the directions, the unknown male interrupts and suggests another route, indicating that he (the unknown male) may have been in Las Vegas on a previous occasion. Jarrah remains in the Las Vegas area until 06/10/2001. The FBI reports that extensive investigation was conducted to determine where he stayed, but no hotel or motel could be located.
http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00681.pdf